stave off 復習
ネットサーフィンをするなどの簡単な作業は脳の老化を防ぐかもしれません。
Research shows games, crafts, other activities might safeguard aging brain
CHICAGO — Even in your 70s and beyond, simple activities including web-surfing, playing bridge and socializing can stave off mental decline, new research says.
Benefits were greatest in computer users and in those without a gene variation linked with Alzheimer’s disease. But even among seniors with that trait, mental decline that sometimes precedes dementia was less common among those who engaged in mind-stimulating activities.
The results don’t apply to costly, computer-based games that purport to keep the brain sharp — those were not studied. The benefits were found from activities that many seniors have access to.
以下省略
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003498186
今回取り上げる表現は“stave off”です(staveは /steɪv/)。『ウィズダム英和辞典』(第3版、三省堂)を引いたところ、“stave A off [off A]”で「A〈人・物〉を(一定期間)阻止する、防ぐ、かわす」とありました。
LDOCEでは、“to keep someone or something from reaching you or affecting you for a period of time”と定義されています。
ちなみに、『ウィズダム英和辞典』では動詞の用法よりも先に名詞用法の意味が載っており、「(たる・おけの)側板」という意味になります。(Blue Sky)